Home of the Badgers
by etraytin
Summary: Donna went home to Wisconsin to try and patch things up with her boyfriend. When that doesn't work out, she and her best friend Stephanie go on a road trip to get Donna back where she really belongs.
1. On, Wisconsin

Author's Note: Today's story, the penultimate work in the fantastical Fic-A-Day-Til-The-Election, is in response to a prompt from Anonymous, who asked for an exploration of Donna's journey from Wisconsin to DC through the lens of her long friendship with Stephanie Gault (from Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail). It's a great story prompt, and as soon as I started writing it I could tell that it was going to mushroom into something longer than I could write in one day. More chapters of this one will be forthcoming as long as people are interested. Hope you enjoy! =)

…...

Stephanie Danielle Gault was having a pretty good evening, if she did say so herself. Grad school was no picnic, but she finally had one major project under her belt already, and from the sound of her advisor conference this afternoon, she was well on her way to being published in a very minor journal of international relations. To celebrate, she had a glass of wine that tasted more expensive than it was, a bar of dark chocolate, and an evening full of laying on the couch and watching The Princess Bride for the twentieth time.

She'd already called her dad to tell him the good news, so hearing the phone ring again just as the opening credits began was a surprise. People didn't really call her, certainly not on rainy Tuesday nights when nothing was due in her TA classes. Setting aside her glass of wine, she rose and picked up the phone in her kitchen. "Hello?"

"Steph?" The voice was very familiar, but small and half-choked with tears. "It's me, Donna."

That was enough to get alarm bells clanging loudly in Stephanie's head. She'd been more than a little skeptical when Donna had come back to town three weeks ago, back with Rick and determined that this time it was going to work out, despite all historical evidence to the contrary. Ten days ago, she and Donna had met up for dinner, and Donna had been full of bubbly enthusiasm on the surface for Rick's many perceived behavioral changes, and full of miserable uncertainty inside that even a changed Rick was anybody she really wanted. "What's the matter, honey? Are you all right?"

"Not really," Donna admitted. "I mean, I'm okay. It wasn't a bad accident, I've got some bruises, whiplash, sprained ankle... but it's nothing, right?" Her laugh was high-pitched, edgy and bitter. "I need a ride."

"Whoa, back up a second, kiddo," Steph demanded, already turning off the television and dropping a coaster over her wine glass. Where were her shoes? "You were in a car accident? Where are you?"

"Yeah... the car got the worst of it, it's totaled. My dad's going to be really pissed." Donna's voice was even smaller suddenly. "I'm at UW, um... I think this is the emergency department lobby."

"Okay, you sit tight, Donna. I'm going to be there in fifteen minutes." Steph debated before even asking, but it seemed important. "Where's Rick?"

Again that laugh, raising the hairs on the back of Steph's neck. "I wouldn't get into a car with that fucker if he were the last man on earth," Donna swore.

"All right, that's a good call, you keep that up," Steph encouraged. "I'll be there in just a few minutes." Her sweatsuit-and-sneakers combination wouldn't win her any fashion prizes even in a crowd of grad students, but she hadn't been expecting to go out again, and she wasn't going to take the time to change. She drove carefully but quickly on the rain-slick roads, wending her way through campus and following the signs for Emergency through the enormous hospital complex. There was a covered parking spot available, a small miracle, and soon Steph found herself in the waiting room.

Donna was sitting on one of the vinyl-covered couches, holding herself stiffly with discomfort and clutching a nearly-full cup of coffee in one hand. Rick was, as expected, nowhere to be seen. She set aside the coffee when she noticed Steph, struggling to her feet with the help of a pair of metal crutches. "Thank you so much for coming, I know it was a huge imposition..."

Steph gave Donna her best quelling-the-undergraduates glare. "Donna, we established years ago that I am your first call when it comes to boyfriend problems. You damn well better have called me! Is that your stuff?" Donna nodded, and Steph picked up the purse and the small plastic bag off the seat. She looked inside. "You brought your groceries to the hospital? Didn't you come in an ambulance?"

Donna shrugged with a faint smile. "I honestly don't remember. I must've just had them in my hand the entire time and never put them down. But considering I totaled my dad's car over them, I might as well have them, I guess."

"Point." Steph took a look in the bag as they slowly made their way to the doors. "Mint Milanos, chocolate truffles, tiny little bottle of amaretto... your night wasn't going so well before the accident, was it." Donna just shook her head, her hair falling down around her face as she maneuvered the crutches. Steph let it go for the moment. She helped Donna get situated in the car, tossed the crutches in the backseat, and slid behind the wheel. "Okay, where to?"

Donna looked at Steph like she'd just been poleaxed. "I... I don't know," she admitted.

"Do you want to go to your folks' place?" Donna shook her head, and Steph didn't blame her. Donna's parents weren't bad people, but they had strong feelings on what their children's lives should look like. This would be just one more piece of evidence in the "someone needs to be taking care of Donnatella" argument, and no wonder she didn't have time or energy for that tonight. "Okay, my place it is. Hope you like wine and The Princess Bride, cause that's tonight's agenda."

"Sounds about perfect," Donna told her, and was silent for the rest of the ride. Steph just let her be.

The stairs at her apartment were a little tricky to navigate, but eventually they were both settled in on Steph's couch with cheap wine, cookies, and the movie. Steph waited until after the first Westley and Buttercup sequence to start talking. "So what happened with you and Rick?"

Donna stared into her wine. "He worked late again yesterday and we had a fight. Not because of the hours, but because his clothes smelled like perfume when he got home." She sighed and knuckled under one eye. "He swore he got puked on during his peds shift and that it was the only fabric softener he could find at the hospital, and maybe it was true. It could've been true. But then he started going on about how can we rebuild our relationship if I won't trust him, and it really made me start thinking. I don't trust him because he fucking cheated on me, and I don't know how I'm ever going to trust him again. When he finishes school he's still going to be working long hours and going out in the middle of the night, and am I going to spend every single night wondering who that page was actually from? And then tonight..."

She trailed off. "What happened tonight?" Steph nudged gently.

"I called him after the accident," Donna told her, her voice heavy. "We were still arguing this morning, but tonight I was upset and scared and I wanted my doctor boyfriend to tell me everything was okay. And he said he was going to come and get me, but I finished up in X-rays and got my crutches and got put back out in the waiting room and he wasn't even there. We live less than ten minutes from the hospital and it took him more than an hour to show up, and when he did there was beer on his breath." Donna hugged one of the couch pillows, even though doing so made her wince. "He'd been about to go out with his friends, and I wasn't important enough for him to change his plans. That's how much he actually cares about me."

"He's a complete asshole and not worth a minute of your time," Steph agreed, passing Donna a box of tissues. "I was honestly kind of surprised you came back at all," she admitted. "I thought you liked working for the Bartlet campaign."

"I did," Donna confessed miserably. "It was the best thing I've ever done in my life, and I was actually _good_ at it. It felt so amazing to be good at something for once, instead of just scrambling to get by, or enduring something so tedious I could scream. Everyone there was amazing, and I was learning so much just by being around them. My boss, Josh, just the way his mind works is phenomenal, all the twists and turns, and the Governor is so nice and so smart and has these great policies-"

"Then why did you leave?" Steph broke in, sensing that Donna was on a roll.

Donna's face crumpled. "Lots of reasons, I guess. Rick kept sending me flowers and telling me how much he missed me, how we weren't complete without each other. He'd call me on the phone and sound so sad and lonely. And I'd talk to my mom and try to tell her about what we were doing in the campaign and how exciting it was, and all she said was it sounded to her like I was homeless, and at least they pay secretaries in Madison. Then Rick sent me a plane ticket and begged me to come home and promised everything was going to change. He was going to be the guy I always knew he could be. And..."

She trailed off, but Steph just leaned back, watching and waiting until Donna started talking again, in an even softer voice now. "And I thought that if I went back and we patched things up, it meant I wasn't stupid for being with him in the first place. It would mean that I didn't throw away my college career and three years of my life for nothing. But I guess I'm just double-stupid now." She started to cry again, big, slow tears and intermittent sobs, as though she were too worn down for anything energetic.

Stephanie scooted across the couch to wrap Donna in a hug, giving her another handful of tissues in the process. "You're completely not stupid," she maintained loyally. "He's the stupid one for having two chances with you and blowing them both so spectacularly. You would've been the best thing that ever happened to that pissant wanna-be surgeon." Steph and Donna had originally become friends back in college, when Steph as a junior and Donna as a freshman had fallen afoul of the same graduate student Lothario. Steph had plenty of experience coming up with epithets for terrible boyfriends. "Okay, I tell you what we're gonna do."

Donna looked up and wiped her face. "Please tell me it involves drinking the rest of the wine."

"It does indeed involve drinking the rest of the wine!" Steph assured her. "We're gonna drink the wine and we're gonna rewind the movie back because we missed the part where Westley and Inigo fight, and we're gonna watch that. We're going to eat chocolate until we're ready to throw up, and curse men, and possibly fall asleep right on this couch."

"That's a good plan," Donna agreed with a nod and a sip of her wine.

"And then in the morning," Steph continued unabated, "I'm going to call my dad and borrow his Camry and we're going to take you back to New Hampshire."

"What?" Donna asked, setting down her glass.

"You sold your car and totaled your folks' extra car, right?" Steph pointed out. "You're gonna need a ride. My car's a piece of crap, so we'll need something that's up for interstate travel."

"You can't- I can't go back to New Hampshire!" Donna sputtered.

"Why not?" Steph demanded. "Do you really want to stay here? Get another job on campus, knock around with the undergrads and try to pretend like Rick never existed?" She hitched both legs up onto the couch so she could face Donna fully. "You said you were happy there. You said you were good at it. You really want to let him take that away from you?"

"No," Donna admitted, "but I can't go back there. When I started with the campaign, I just walked in the door and started organizing the messiest office I saw, and it turned out to be Josh's. When he showed up and asked what I was doing, I told him I was his assistant, and that's what he let me be. He took a chance on me that no sane person should've taken, and I bailed on him to try and make it work with Rick. I can't show my face there again. What if he wouldn't take me back?"

"Does sound embarrassing," Steph agreed.

"Really embarrassing," Donna assured her.

"You'd have to be crazy to go back."

"Yeah." Now Donna just looked despondent.

"Only somebody who really believed in a candidate and who loved what they were doing would even try," Steph pressed.

Donna gave her a narrow-eyed look. "I sense you're going somewhere with this."

Steph grinned at her. "It would take somebody brave enough to chuck it all and drive halfway across the country to do volunteer work in the first place. Anyway, what's the worst that could happen? You and I take a four day road trip, stop in Chicago on the way back and go to the top of the Sears Tower."

That got a laugh from Donna. "I haven't done that since I was twelve. But even if I go, I can't ask you to drive all that way, or ask your dad for his car. You have classes."

"You're not asking, I'm offering," Steph pointed out. "I just finished my independent study project for this term, I was already planning on taking a week off to unclog my brain. Look, Hoynes is slime and Wiley's a lightweight, and god only knows who they're going to be putting up on the Republican side, right? You say Bartlet's the real deal, and that means it's like my civic duty to do something to help him get elected. So I'm gonna give him you."

"Now that's some grad school level political thinking," Donna snarked, but she was smiling again. "Do you think you can get the car?"

"Sure, my dad's a soft touch and he likes you. It's a done deal." Steph gave Donna another quick hug, then sat back with the remote control. "But there's an order to all of this. Movie and wine, then get the car, then we grab all your stuff while Asshole Rick's at work, then we hit the road. We'll be in New Hampshire by Friday morning. If you want to go back."

"I want to go back," Donna said, quietly but firmly as she picked up her wine. "Even if he- if they won't take me back, I want to try. You're a good friend, Steph."

"I'm the best," Steph agreed cheerfully, clinking her glass against Donna's. "To fresh starts." It was the toast they always used after a breakup or a bad grade or a terrible day at work or any other setback that required drinks. It was multifunctional.

"To fresh starts."


	2. Gary, Indiana

Author's Note: Hi everybody! Today seemed like a good day for a road trip story. Thrill to the start of Donna and Steph's incredible journey to New Hampshire, and their many small adventures along the way! Also, if you ever do make it to Madison, Wisconsin, go to Ella's Deli. It will make you happy.

…...

Despite Steph's bold predictions, it took them a little longer to get going the next day than they'd planned. Donna woke up feeling like she'd gone through a tumble dryer, black and blue all over and with a headache that wouldn't quit. It was hard to tell how much of the headache was hangover and how much was car accident, but either way was pretty miserable. A long hot shower helped, even if she had to cling to the shampoo rail the entire time to avoid putting any weight on her ankle, and Steph's timely appearance with orange juice and Advil was also helpful. No amount of vanity would let her touch the bruises on her face with makeup, but at least a high-necked shirt covered up the almost perfectly seat-belt-shaped line across her torso. If this was a minor accident, she was definitely sure she didn't want to be in a major one!

A call from her mother reminded her that she had responsibilities to tend to as well. Steph gave her a ride to the city impound lot, where her parents and the insurance adjuster were waiting to have a look at the car. It looked even worse than she'd remembered, all squished in on the passenger's side like a curled-up pillbug. Her mom cried as soon as she caught sight of Donna on her crutches, and almost had to be physically restrained from hugging her. "We never should've loaned you that car!" Nora Moss sobbed. "The steering was never quite right even when it was new, and the tires were getting thin, and you don't drive well in the rain-"

"Mom, it wasn't even my fault!" Donna interrupted impatiently. "There was nothing wrong with the car or with my driving; I got t-boned by a car that ran a stop sign! The police filed the report already and everything. I just want my things from the car before it gets sent to the wrecker."

"Is Rick going to be able to drive you around for awhile?" Nora asked anxiously. "I'm not sure you should be driving with that ankle at all."

"It's my left ankle, I can drive an automatic," Donna pointed out, carefully setting aside her crutches and opening the rear driver's door. She hadn't had a chance to accumulate too much junk yet, but there were jumper cables and the emergency kit, plus some used books she'd picked up and the rest of her groceries. "And Rick is history. He and I are done for real this time."

Oddly enough, neither of her parents seemed to question the decision, a big change from the last time she'd told them that. "You'll have to come home with us, then." her dad said firmly. "You need somebody looking after you for a few days. You've probably got whiplash." Doug Moss was a quiet man, but when he spoke, it did tend to be in pronouncements.

"I'm fine," Donna told him, passing stuff to Steph as she pulled it from the car. Steph, bless her heart, was watching the conversation like a ping-pong match, but staying silent. Donna had to do this herself. "I've decided to rejoin the campaign. Seeing you guys has been great, but coming back was a mistake in general. I made the right decision the first time, and I'm hoping it's not too late for me to pick it up again. We still need to get to the Illinois primary."

Nora's mouth dropped open in shock. "You can't go back!" she exclaimed. "That campaign was terrible for you! You were sleeping on floors, you sold your car!"

"I loved working on the campaign, Mom!" Donna countered. "I was good at it, and I'm going to keep being good at it, even if it means sleeping on floors awhile longer."

"How are you going to get there?" Doug asked, ever pragmatic.

Now Steph spoke up at last. "We're road-tripping," she announced, grinning. "It'll be fun!"

That announcement required another fifteen minutes of explaining and persuading, and by the end Donna was pretty sure her parents still weren't convinced, but at least it had given the insurance adjuster time to write off the car. She hugged them both and promised to call from the road and when she got there, and then it was off to the crummy apartment she and Rick had shared. Somehow even being back for three weeks hadn't made it feel like home after just five weeks away. She suspected that probably should've been a sign much sooner.

At any rate, at least he wasn't home, so she could gather up her clothes and belongings in peace. Last time she had broken most of the dishes on her way out, fresh on the heels of catching him in his car with Marla-the-Slut, but this time most of it was plastic and it would've been much less satisfying even if she'd needed the outlet. Instead she and Steph took most of the food, figuring they'd need it on the road. A small return, Donna figured, on several years' tuition she'd never see again. Steph suggested several entertaining and inventive forms of revenge-by-condiment, but Donna reminded her that they were bigger people than that. In one last moment of pettiness, she did turn off the ice-maker, knowing that he would never be able to figure out where the switch was, or look in the owner's manual for himself. It was mildly gratifying.

By then, the entire morning was already gone, so Steph drove them to Ella's Deli for lunch and insisted that they ride the carousel. "Are you serious?" Donna laughed. "How am I supposed to get on one of the horses?"

"You can ride in a seat!" Steph told her cheerfully as she paid for the tickets. "The point is just to ride." It was strange, but somehow the tinny music and whirling colors as the carousel spun around did make Donna feel more cheerful. Lunch consisted of small sandwiches and way too much ice cream, followed by another round of painkillers. "Now," declared Steph, "we just need the car, and we're off!"

"Should we wait another day to go?" Donna asked uncertainly. "How long will we be able to drive before dark?"

"Pfft, darkness is no barrier!" Steph declared, then instantly sobered. "Unless you don't want to be in a car in the dark just yet?"

"No, I'm okay," Donna told her, hoping she was right. The idea didn't seem too scary, at least. "We can take turns, and stop if we get too tired. I know a million tips for sleeping in cars."

"Teach me your ways, oh master," Steph teased. "I'm a graduate student in international relations, I might need them sometime." Donna laughed.

Donna had only met Steph's dad a few times, but he was a real sweetheart. Older than her own parents by at least a decade, he'd always seemed a little sad to her despite being a friendly man with many friends. Steph had explained to her once that her grandfather had gone to jail during the McCarthy era and died there, a victim of little more than suspicion and fear. Her father had been very young, but it had put a mark on his entire life. Instead of giving into it, Daniel Gault Jr. had devoted his life to helping others, becoming a pastor and raising a family in Madison, Wisconsin. Donna had to admire that. He lived in a split-level house with ten stairs to the front door, so Steph made her wait in the car while she went up to talk to her dad.

She put the time to work, opening her maps and making sure she remembered the route she'd taken last time from Madison to New Hampshire. It occurred to her that the campaign may well be on the road again by now, but they still based from Manchester, so they'd be back eventually. At any rate, if she were going to face Josh again, she'd rather beard him in his den than try to catch up with him during a frantic campaign stop. A tap on the window had her looking up to see Dan Gault's smiling face.

Donna opened the door. "Hi, Mr. Gault!"

"Hello, Donna. Steph's been telling me about your adventure last night. I'm so sorry to hear you got hurt. How are you feeling?" Mr. Gault wore a bow tie, something Donna found oddly adorable. He looked like he should be selling candy to small children, but not in a creepy way.

"I feel better than I look," she assured him with a small laugh. "I'm afraid my car got the worst of it by a long-shot. I was on Midvale outside the shopping center, so it could've been a lot worse."

"That road's dangerous," he agreed gravely, "especially on rainy nights. You've decided to go back to New Hampshire, then?"

Donna nodded. "Steph is being incredibly generous by offering to help me get there, because she knows how much it means to me."

"I've seen some of Jed Bartlet's speeches on TV," he told her with a small smile. "He seems like a very smart man. Is he a good man?"

Donna nodded vigorously. "Very good. He should be the president."

"That's good to know. I'll make sure to vote for him." He extended a hand and helped her up out of the car. Steph was already pulling stuff out of the trunk and transferring it to her dad's sturdy sedan. "You girls be careful now, and drive safely. Call from-"

"Call from the road and no loud music so you can't hear the car," Steph parroted, laughing. "We'll be careful Daddy, I promise." She hugged her dad, then went back to packing.

Donna hugged him too. "Thank you so much," she told him. "If there's ever anything I can do for you..."

He patted her on the shoulder. "Go and make the government better," he told her. "That'll be quite enough."

She grinned. "I'll do that," she promised.

It took a few minutes to get everything arranged in the car, especially when Steph went back for another load of blankets and pillows, but by 3:30 they were packed up and heading out on the road. Steph drove, so Donna manned the radio and kept track of the map. "First Chicago," Steph crowed, "and then the world!"

Driving through southern Wisconsin wasn't exactly the most captivating terrain in the world, especially at the very beginning of April when even the miles of fields weren't doing very much. Luckily, Steph and Donna shared sensibilities about silly car games and road trip songs, and the first few hours passed very quickly. Chicago was a traffic nightmare, as always, and Donna had a bit of a time convincing Steph that they absolutely could not pull over and switch drivers in the middle of the Skyway, no matter how scared she was of heights, but then that was past as well, and they were safely in Indiana in the deepening twilight. "Gary smells funny," Steph announced.

"Gary does smell kind of funny," Donna agreed.

"It makes me think of a song."

Donna cringed, laughing. "Please don't sing the song."

"You can't deny Meredith Willson, Donna," Steph told her with great seriousness, and launched into a spirited rendition of "Gary, Indiana." Donna lasted four bars before giving up and joining in.

It was very dark by the time they stopped at a truck stop for food, gas and bathroom. It was admittedly a little sketchy-looking, but the Camry was on E and Donna's bladder was aching. "Definitely a packaged food only kind of place," she observed as they pulled up to the pumps.

"Definitely a squatty-potty kind of place," Steph agreed. "I'll pump, you get your limpy self into the bathroom. If anything bad happens, scream so I know I should get out of here, okay?"

"You're all heart." Donna maneuvered her crutches out of the back seat and headed into the gas station, grateful when someone leaving held the door open for her. People stared as she walked through, but she was getting used to that by now. Tomorrow she was definitely going to brave her makeup.

She managed to tend to her personal business and was buying herself a Lunchable and chips when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped slightly, but put on a polite half-smile and turned to see an older man studying her. "That your Camry out there?" he asked.

"Yes?" she answered cautiously, casting her eyes momentarily toward the bathroom and hoping Steph would come out.

"You've got one of your brake bulbs out on the right side," he told her. "You're all right for now, but when one goes, the other one's usually right behind it. Fixing that's pretty easy, but if you don't get it done, you're gonna get yourself a ticket, especially with those out-of-state plates," he advised. "You can get the bulbs here and change them when you get where you're going."

"Oh," Donna said, smiling a little more when he seemed to be sincere. "I hadn't noticed that, but thank you. I'll make sure to pick some up."

The man nodded, satisfied. "Those state troopers, they're always looking to give out tickets. You drive safe."

"I will, thanks," Donna stepped out of line and went over to the auto parts aisle. She was looking over the light bulbs when Steph emerged from the bathroom and joined her.

"Shopping for a new tire iron?" Steph asked, sotto voce.

Donna shushed her. "We have a taillight bulb out. A nice man pointed it out to me, I want to get a new one so we can change it in the morning."

Steph raised her eyes to indicate her mild skepticism. "You know how to change a taillight?"

"Of course I do," Donna scoffed. "My old car shorted out the bulb three times a year. It's easy."

"You're a woman of the world. Let's get going before the sticky stuff on the bathroom floor comes after me." Steph grabbed the lightbulbs Donna gave her and bought them along with an enormous pile of junk food. With Donna at the wheel this time, they took off back down the interstate.


	3. Shuffle Off To Buffalo

Author's Note: So it turns out my hotel has wi-fi and it's not quite midnight yet in this time zone, so I haven't missed a day! Go me! This one's short and sweet, and hopefully given authentic road-trip zing by the many hours I spent in a pickup truck today. Hope you enjoy!

…...

Five hours and another driver switch later, they were mid-Ohio and Steph was singing along with They Might Be Giants to keep herself alert. Donna had taken some more ibuprofen and gone to sleep an hour earlier, more bothered than she wanted to admit by the pain from her injuries. Steph wondered, now that it was too late, whether they maybe should've waited another day or two before getting this show on the road, but she suspected that the speed at which they'd moved had kept Donna from any chance of corrosive second thoughts.

Donna had to be one of the smartest people Steph had ever met, but she was smart in unusual and hard to quantify ways. Regular smart, yeah, but also smart in how she worked with people, how she could draw the best out of them. Steph had literally been better at all her subjects when she studied with Donna, because Donna asked the right questions in the right way. She suspected that was also how Rick, who was a class A asshole and also not that bright, had gotten through med school thus far as well. Steph bet he'd be scrambling now, and wishing like hell he'd taken a raincheck on the booze. And despite all that, Donna had almost no confidence in her own abilities, mostly because she'd never found what she was good at while she'd been in college. When Donna had voluntarily admitted to being good at working on a political campaign, Steph had immediately determined to get her back there as soon as possible.

In the passenger seat Donna stirred and opened her eyes, blinking at the dashboard clock. "Ugh, where are we?"

"Almost to Pennsylvania," Steph reported cheerfully, turning down the music. "You slept through Cleveland, which is too bad because it was magnificent."

"I think I'll live," Donna murmured. "You want me to take another turn yet?"

"Nah, you've only been asleep for an hour, I'm still good. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." At Steph's disbelieving glance, Donna modified her statement. "I'm better than I was yesterday. Still kind of sore." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "How are you doing?"

"Not too bad. I've never been to New York State, you know that?" Steph told her. "This feels like some kind of milestone in my life. We're going to be in spitting distance of Canada when we drive through Buffalo."

"I was born about five miles from the Canadian border," Donna murmured sleepily. "If there'd been any complications, my mom might've gotten airlifted to Winnepeg. I'd probably be a Canadian citizen."

"That might complicate you working on a presidential campaign," Steph mused. "Good thing your mom is a lot healthier than she thinks."

Donna smirked a little. "Don't be mean to my mom," she scolded. "She means well."

"She still thinks you're six years old, not to mention a terrible driver."

"I was a pretty terrible driver when I was six." Donna yawned and sat up a little in her seat, adjusting the pillow she'd been using. "She's having a hard time letting go because I'm the youngest, and I've been kind of a screwup. She wants to protect me."

"Hey now, if I can't be mean to your mom, you can't be mean to you," Steph reminded her. "You're twenty-four, and you're just starting to figure out what you want to do with your life. Another ten years, you still don't know what you want to be when you grow up, maybe you'll have a problem. But that's not gonna happen. Tell me about the campaign. What's that boss like, besides really disorganized and smart?"

"Well, those are two of his main defining traits," Donna confessed with a laugh. "He's incredibly confident, like whatever he does is going to work out just because it's his plan and he thought of it. He brought his best friend Sam along to join the campaign, and managed to talk him out of a partnership at a major law firm to make hardly anything working for Governor Bartlet. The two of them together are like a couple of kids sometimes, causing trouble, bothering CJ and Toby. He's really funny, but his humor is kind of offbeat. It's not like he's always telling jokes, but we'll be talking and get into a rhythm, and it's just fun."

Steph raised both her eyebrows and grinned. "Uh-huh. What does he look like?"

"Um, about my height, maybe an inch or two taller, brown eyes, curly brown hair." Donna's voice got a little bit wistful, but Steph was pretty sure she didn't notice. "He's thirty-six, but he looks younger, especially when he's smiling. He's got these dimples that are really cute-" Donna seemed to finally catch on to what she was saying and cut herself off with a blush Steph could see in the dark.

"Oh, Donna," Steph laughed. "You've got it bad."

"I completely do not," Donna denied immediately. "He's my boss! Besides, he has a girlfriend. A terrible girlfriend, but still."

"Well it seems to me that as a good assistant, you'd be doing him a favor by getting rid of the terrible girlfriend, right?" Steph teased. "And maybe replacing her with an infinitely superior model?"

"Okay, first off, it is totally not like that," Donna protested, her cheeks still flaming. "Josh is my friend, and he did me a huge favor by taking me on as his assistant. And he might not even be that happy to see me after I ditched him for one last mistake in Madison with Rick. My big life change could end up just being job hunting in New Hampshire."

"You're the one who says he's brilliant," Steph countered. "If he's half as smart as you think he is, he's going to jump at the chance to have you back. You'll be assisting again by Friday morning, tops."

"Your mouth to God's ear," Donna replied wryly. "But second of all, if he does take me back, then we'll be working together, professional coworkers, and I'll be his subordinate. Even if he were to ditch his girlfriend, there's no way he and I could... you know. Anything. It would look bad and unprofessional."

"So maybe you go and assist for somebody else," Steph suggested. "The other immature one, Sam? He probably needs help too."

"You're not wrong," Donna admitted with a soft chuckle, "but I don't want to work for Sam. He's really nice, but he's a speechwriter. All he does all day is pick out the right words for the Governor. Josh actually makes things happen, and it's exciting to be a part of that. I've already learned so much from him in just the few weeks I was there."

"You're the make-things-happen type," Steph agreed. "You'd probably go crazy if you were copy editing all day."

"Yeah," Donna agreed. "And even... even if, it's not like I'm ready to get into anything new right now anyway. I know how tired I am of being RickandDonna, I'm going to give just being Donna a shot for awhile. I want to work with Josh and learn from him, not date him." She sounded very sure of herself on that.

"You make excellent points," Steph had to admit. "But I still want to get a load of this guy when we get there."

Donna laughed. "I'm sure you'll notice him as soon as he's in the room. He's not exactly subtle."

"Sounds like my kind of guy," Steph mused. "Do you think he'd be into a long distance thing with a graduate student?" The glare Donna gave her for that had her chortling for the next five miles.

By the time they passed Erie, Steph was ready for a break and Donna had caught a little bit more sleep. They hit another gas station, switched places, and kept going. By the time they reached Buffalo, though, it was after two in the morning and neither of them were feeling particularly competent to drive, so they stopped in the parking lot of an all-night grocery store. Under Donna's able tutelage, Steph put up the windshield shades and hung blankets in the windows, then both of them wrapped up against the chill and reclined their seats. Steph was surprised at how easy it was to fall asleep despite the weird position, just from exhaustion.

She wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up, but the sun was rising and somebody was knocking on the window. Steph hastily straightened her seat and nudged Donna awake before she looked through the blanket curtain on her window.

A police officer was peering in at them curiously, a frown on his heavyset face. "Are you all right in there?"

Steph unrolled her window partway and tried a winning smile. "Absolutely, we're just fine," she told him. "Just getting a little sleep during our road trip." Next to her, Donna was nodding enthusiastically.

"Well you know you're not allowed to park all night in this lot without being in the store, that's trespassing," he informed them gravely. "I need your license and registration, please." Steph passed them over, chagrined, then she and Donna sat in silence while he looked them over. "Everything seems all right, but two young girls shouldn't be out sleeping in a car all night. That's very dangerous. Where are you going, anyway?"

"We're going to New Hampshire," Steph told him, making her face as open and earnest as possible. "We're hoping to get there by tonight."

"We want to join the Hoynes campaign!" Donna put in, so guilelessly that Steph almost choked on her laughter.

The officer handed back Steph's documents and looked them both over. "I have to tell you that it's time to be moving on out of this parking lot, but you be careful now. There's a lot of unsavory people out there who could hurt you or take advantage of you. Be careful."

"We definitely will," Steph assured him with a fervent nod. Within minutes, she and Donna had disassembled their little camping setup and headed for the interstate again, figuring that waiting to pee was the better part of valor. Steph lasted two whole exits before finally bursting out, "We're joining the Hoynes campaign?"

"Well, if he was going to arrest us, we didn't want to be associated with Bartlet, right?" Donna reminded her pragmatically. "It was just a little fib."

"You're a terrible person, and I think lying to the police is some kind of felony, so you'd better watch out," Steph warned, laughing. "You could get in a lot of trouble that way." Donna just rolled her eyes. "How many more miles?"

"Something like four hundred fifty," Donna reported. "We should be there in eight or nine hours unless the traffic is extra bad."

"Perfect!" Steph announced. "We'll be in Manchester by dinnertime."


	4. Old New Hampshire

Author's Note: Seven and a half hours on the road today, seven and a half hours tomorrow, so here's another chapter of my road-trip fic for your reading enjoyment! It's not a long one, for obvious reasons, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. By tomorrow night I should be safely back at home and able to tackle some of the more complicated chapters I've been putting off. Once I've gotten some sleep, anyway! Hope everyone's holiday was happy, and thanks again to everyone for the comments, kudos and other feedback! I've been even less able to respond than usual, but all of them are important and wonderful.

…...

Donna made it nearly seven hours before starting to freak out again around Schenectady, shortly before the New Hampshire border. "I can't do this," she told Steph. "I told all these people goodbye forever a month ago. Some of them took me out to lunch and wished me good luck with Rick. How do I just walk back in there and yell 'Just kidding! It was a really stupid idea the whole time?'"

"For starters, I'd leave out the walking back in and yelling part," Steph advised pragmatically. "They're trying to run a presidential campaign and all."

"You'd be surprised at how much yelling happens anyway," Donna told her.

"Doesn't mean you have to add to it. Just walk in there like you were never gone, and maybe they'll treat you like you never left. If somebody asks, say that things didn't work out with Rick and you were tired of giving him second chances when there was something else you'd rather be doing."

"I still feel like an idiot," Donna muttered.

"That's not the important part," Steph assured her. "You can feel like an idiot all you want, so long as you don't look like an idiot. So when you go in there, you act like you meant to do this all along and they just haven't caught up with you yet."

"Career advice from Rumpleteaser?" Donna asked with a laugh. Steph's cat still lived with her dad due to pet restrictions in her apartment, but Donna had heard plenty of stories about her.

"You could do worse," Steph pointed out. "She's never felt a moment of shame in her life, and she's got it made in the shade."

"Now if only I could get a full-time gig sleeping in a windowsill, I'd be set," Donna groused, but the anxiety was already fading a little. "The worst they can say is no," she reminded herself. "And if they do, it's only another four hours to New York City. I've always wanted to go there."

"Cause everyone's my friend, in New York City!" Steph sang gleefully, and loudly. "And everything is beautiful, when you're young and pretty!"

Donna laughed and joined in; she knew the words after three plays of the CD already on this trip "The streets are paved with diamonds and there's just so much to see, but the best thing about New York City is you and me!"

Steph raised a hand from the wheel and gave her a high five. "Fresh starts!" she reminded Donna.

"Damn right," Donna agreed.

It was almost the end of the work day by the time Donna and Steph rolled into Manchester, but Donna knew how little that meant to a campaign workday. They found a parking spot just down the street from campaign HQ, a relief since it meant less maneuvering on crutches. "How's my makeup?" she asked Steph before they left the car.

"Good," Steph assured her. "A little heavy on the foundation, but you look way less like you've been prizefighting for gas money."

"I can live with that," Donna decided. With Steph taking a morally-supportive position at her side, she made her way up the street and into headquarters, the familiar bell tinkling as she walked through the door. She was surprised for a moment at all the activity and all the people; the campaign had grown in her absence. Which made sense, obviously, the longer they stayed in the race, the more donations they got and the more people they needed. Somebody had probably already stepped into the vacant slot she left and was already giving Josh all the assistance he needed. Donna wondered if she could somehow find a place for herself working for CJ or Toby, and why that seemed like such a let-down.

Before she had a chance to get herself all worked up again, Margaret caught sight of them from across the room. The redheaded office manager bulldozed straight for Donna, ignoring hapless interns left to dive out of her path. Margaret parked herself in front of the newcomers. "Are you back for real?" she demanded. "Are you going to work for Josh again?"

"Yes," Donna said uncertainly. "If he'll have me back."

She was shocked when Margaret lunged forward and hugged her hard, as though she were a long-lost friend. "Oh, thank god," Margaret told her with great feeling. Behind her, Donna could hear Steph laughing. "Where on earth have you _been?_ I mean, besides Madison, we knew you were in Madison, but obviously you couldn't stay there forever. Who's your friend?"

"This is Stephanie Gault, my best friend from Madison," Donna introduced. "Steph, this is Margaret Hooper, she runs things around here." Margaret chuckled a little, but didn't refute that assertion. "Steph helped me drive back here, I don't know where I'd be if not for her."

Margaret studied Steph for a moment with her usual slightly-unsettling intensity. "You've done a good thing," she informed Steph gravely. "How do you feel about working on political campaigns?"

Steph laughed again. "This one seems pretty exciting, but I've got to get back to school by Tuesday. Donna's just going to have to let me know when the campaign comes to town and I can pitch in for the day."

Margaret nodded. "You'd better get back there," she informed Donna. "He's supposed to be running numbers for the Illinois primary and I don't think he's seen the surface of his desk in four days."

"Doesn't he have someone helping him?" Donna asked.

"Not for lack of trying," Margaret assured her. "He's been like a bear with a thorn in his paw, only instead of biting anybody he's been using sarcasm. You know the newbies can't handle that." She nodded somberly.

"I see." Donna tried valiantly not to laugh again. "I guess I'd better get to work."

"Good luck!" Margaret told her, speeding away again.

Donna watched her go, then turned to Steph, handing her the crutches. "Can you hold these a minute?"

Steph took them, looking confused. "What am I supposed to do with them?"

"I just don't want to have them when I walk in there," Donna explained. "I want to look really competent."

"By falling on your face?" Steph asked skeptically.

"Ideally no," Donna replied with a glare. "Approaching Josh is kind of like approaching, well, a bear with a thorn in his paw," she admitted. "You've got to come from a position of power, and you've got to be able to help. I don't want to be showing weakness right off the bat."

Steph raised her eyebrows but took the crutches, walking alongside Donna as she limped down the hallway. "You know that's really weird, right?"

Donna shrugged. "It's worked so far. You're the one saying to come back like I never left."

"Yeah, okay," Steph allowed. "Go for it."

Josh's office was still in the same place, halfway down the oddly-shaped hallway, still looking like it had been assembled by high school students with plywood and a staple gun. Josh was sitting at his desk, theoretically anyway; he was sitting in front of a large mass of papers that presumably had a desk underneath it somewhere. He looked even more disheveled than she remembered, and the circles under his eyes were darker. Obviously nobody was making sure he took care of himself.

Donna knocked lightly on the doorframe, but Josh didn't so much as look up. "Whatever it is," he growled, "I don't want to hear about it. Unless you've got Winnebago County polling data or a cheeseburger and fries, leave and do not return."

"You know that's not good for you," she told him lightly, amused when his head whipped up fast enough to send a few papers flying. "When's the last time you slept?"

"Donna?" Josh's voice was filled with disbelief and other things she couldn't identify, but he didn't seem angry yet. He rose from his seat and walked over to her, looking at her as though he was having a hard time believing she was there at all.

She gave him a hesitant smile. "So, I'm back. I hear you still need an assistant."

He stared at her for another long moment, a million indecipherable thoughts behind his brown eyes. Finally he grinned, the cocky, maddening grin that she loved and loathed in equal portions. "Thank god," he told her. "There's a pile of stuff on the desk."

"That's an understatement," Donna heard Steph mutter, and could do nothing but laugh.


	5. America the Beautiful

Author's Note: And this is it, the end of the story! I will almost certainly write more about Stephanie at some point; she's really grown on me as a character and Donna needs one friend who's not neck-deep in politics. :) But for now we will leave them to their canon lives because I have something like a half-dozen WIP fics now and I have to wrap some of them up sometime. Thank you to everyone who has read, favorited, kudosed and left comments on this fic. I hope you enjoy the ending and let me know what you thought!

…...

Steph stood in the doorway and watched the reunion between Donna and her boss with great interest. For a little while they just stood there staring at each other and grinning, as though something really great had just happened and they were both basking in it. Steph got the weird feeling that there was an entire conversation happening that she couldn't see or hear. Finally Josh broke off and looked in Steph's direction, obviously taking in the crutches for the first time. "Who's your clumsy friend?" Charming as advertised, but Donna wasn't lying about the cute dimples.

"This is my best friend from home, Stephanie Gault." Donna hooked an elbow around Steph's arm and dragged her forward into the room. "She's the reason I was able to get back at all, we drove her dad's car all the way here from Madison."

"Nice to meet you," Josh said affably, extending a hand for a political operative handshake. Like a lawyer handshake, Steph decided, calculated and firm without being too tight, but not as effusive as the guy actually running for office. "Thanks for hauling Donna back here for us. She's wasted in Wisconsin."

"I'm sure she'd find something amazing to do anywhere she went," Steph countered with a grin, "but she seems to like you guys. And the crutches are hers," she added, handing them over to Donna and ignoring her friend's look of outraged betrayal. "Make sure she uses them for the next three days."

"Steph!" Donna hissed, but it was too late.

Josh's entire attention immediately swiveled back to Donna. "What the hell did you do to yourself?" he demanded, looking her up and down as though he'd simply missed seeing a fiberglass cast or maybe an amputation. Steph suddenly had a much better understanding of the care Donna had taken with her makeup. She rather suspected that if Josh had seen Donna looking the way she did on Tuesday night, Donna wouldn't have been allowed to leave the hospital at all.

"I slipped on the ice and hurt my ankle. It's only a sprain," Donna told him impatiently, the lie so smooth as to be nearly imperceptible. Not a complete lie, Steph supposed, there was just also a couple of cars involved in the slipping and hurting.

"It's April!" Josh squawked. "How do you slip on the ice in April?"

"It was Wisconsin! We had a late thaw, and I forgot to salt the walks," she informed him. "It's really nothing. I've barely been using the crutches at all for days." Again not a lie, Donna had been sitting in the car for almost all of the past two days. Maybe she really did have a future in politics, Steph mused.

Josh, however, was also not a total political neophyte. "Doesn't it take a thousand hours to get here from Wisconsin?" he demanded. "No wonder you haven't been using them! Did you hurt yourself anywhere else?"

"I'm fine, I swear," and now Donna's impatience was colored with affection. "I'll be chasing you around with file folders in no time," she promised.

He looked unconvinced, and for a minute Steph thought he was going to demand Donna hop up on the desk so he could have a look himself. "You know the instant Mrs. B sees you, she's going to want a look at you," he warned instead. "And you're not gonna be able to get around her."

"Yeah, well, she's the boss," Donna joked, going ahead and leaning on the crutches as long as she was holding them anyway.

"I'm not sure you noticed this, Donnatella," Josh began, looking deeply affronted and also immensely pleased with the world, "but I am also your boss, and theoretically you're supposed to be doing what I tell you to. For instance, right now you should be sitting your ass down in that chair-"

"That chair?" she repeated, gesturing to the visitor chair, which was covered with probably two reams' worth of papers and another half dozen binders.

Josh lifted the entire stack and put it down on the floor, which was itself not entirely free of books and papers already. "That chair," he insisted, "so you can stop looking like Tiny Tim and start putting this office back in order!"

"I would," Donna told him while Steph watched with increasing amusement, "but I'm starving. When's the last time you ate anything?" Interesting way to put it, Steph decided, especially since she and Donna had eaten Subway in the car not two hours ago.

"Fine!" Josh stomped around his desk and grabbed his coat. "We'll go out to eat, someplace very close by, mind you, and incredibly cheap, and with no stairs, and you'll get your food, and then you can work extremely late tonight to get my office back in order."

"Okay," Donna agreed cheerfully, and then they were on the move again. It took a lot longer to get out of the building than it had to get in; apparently word had spread through the building of Donna's return. Several people stopped them in the hallway to welcome her back, including a very tall woman Steph recognized as the campaign's spokesperson, who hugged Donna with genuine enthusiasm and told her she'd been missed. Several of the other volunteers had reactions similar to Margaret's relief, including a young redhead with a New Jersey accent who swore she'd sooner work for Toby than Josh. She didn't seem to mind that Josh was standing right there. Donna seemed to light up and unfold a bit more with every person she encountered, and it occurred to Steph that no matter what happened with this long-shot campaign, Donna wasn't ever going to be coming back to Madison.

Finally they made their way out of the building and just a few blocks down the street to a hole-in-the-wall diner that smelled of old cigarette smoke and french fries. Steph wasn't hungry at all, so she settled for coffee and a piece of pie, while Donna ordered a salad and Josh selected the cheeseburger and fries he'd wanted. There was finally time to talk then, although Steph noticed that Donna said very little about what she'd done during her time away, and Josh didn't ask. Instead they seemed to agree on Steph herself as the safe topic of conversation, and she found herself explaining her graduate work and her thesis, as well as tossing in some funny anecdotes about Donna in college that Josh seemed to appreciate a great deal.

The topic eventually drifted to politics and the presidential race, which Steph supposed was probably inevitable. In his natural habitat and a relatively relaxed state, Josh was expansive and even charming, provided one didn't mind endless wells of discussion about voting blocs and demographics. Donna obviously didn't mind at all, listening to everything Josh had to say and then quizzing him mercilessly on anything she didn't understand while simultaneously eating his french fries. In return, he seemed to enjoy the role of teacher, dropping in anecdotes from his experiences in Washington or making patently ridiculous assertions about Republicans, individually and in groups. Steph began to feel distinctly like a third wheel, but it was hard to be too annoyed about it. Donna and Josh clicked together like two gears meshing, and even if whatever they had between them was never going to be romantic, it was definitely something special and not to be missed.

As soon as they got back to campaign headquarters, Josh fussed Donna into the aforementioned chair and made her take her shoes off as well. "You're just going to complain tomorrow if your ankle's swelled up and you can't wear your shoes at all, and you're going to blame me," he predicted dourly.

A middle-aged man with a nearly-bald head and an expression of concern that looked permanently etched into his face stepped into the doorway. "Staff meeting in three minutes, Leo's office," he reported, then added belatedly, "Hi Donna."

"Hi Toby," Donna replied with a little smile.

"He hasn't been on time for anything in weeks. Fix him, wouldya?" With those words of encouragement, Toby was gone again.

"Like he should talk about being on time," Josh muttered. "What am I forgetting... oh, right!" He hurried behind his desk and opened the bottom drawer, pulling something out of it. "You're going to need this." As he passed it to Donna across the desk, Steph could see it was a laminated campaign badge on a simple black lanyard, a personalized one with Donna's face and name on it.

Donna stared at Josh, her fingers brushing against his for quite a bit longer than strictly necessary as she took the badge from him. "You kept this?" she asked softly.

"I was kinda hoping you'd come back," Josh admitted, his smile surprisingly gentle, even wistful. "Anybody could see this is where you belong."

Donna looked like she might be tearing up, but there was no more time to talk before Josh had to go. He sped off to his staff meeting, leaving the two women alone in his office. Donna went to work immediately, sorting paperwork and alphabetizing files according to some arcane system that Steph barely understood. She helped out for a little while anyway, fetching papers and putting things away so Donna didn't have to get up. After a few minutes, she dropped another folder in a drawer and said offhandedly, "So I think I'll probably head out tomorrow morning."

"Oh, do you have to?" Donna looked immediately torn. "I know I'm being a terrible host, but you haven't seen anything of Manchester or New Hampshire and you haven't met the Governor. You'll like him, he's incredibly smart and interesting."

Steph gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay," she promised. "I didn't come here with you so you could be my tour guide. This is what I wanted you to be doing, remember? It was kind of the whole point." She picked up another set of neatened files off the desk. "Are you happy to be back?"

The smile that spread across Donna's face made the verbal answer superfluous. "Really happy," she said anyway. "You were completely right to push me to come back here, and I owe you big time. And I'm serious," she insisted. "If there's ever anything I can do for you..."

"Well, I expect a really kickass guided tour someday when you get into the White House," Steph told her, kidding on the square. Even in this tiny ramshackle office complex, something about the energy in the campaign made her think they just might go all the way, and Donna with them. Wouldn't that be something? "But this is what friends do. Wine and movie nights weren't going to make you happy this time, and god knows Rick wasn't ever even close. I've watched you here for three hours and I know this is where you're meant to be. It's gonna be amazing."

Donna got up from her chair, balancing shakily for a second before deciding her ankle would hold. She wrapped Steph up in a tight hug, one Steph was happy to return. "You should stay too!" Donna suggested impulsively. "International relations is a kind of political science, you could call it a graduate project! You can meet Toby and CJ and Leo McGarry, and Sam, you'll like Sam and he's gorgeous, and we could room together just like your senior year! It would be great!"

Steph laughed, giving Donna a squeeze before releasing her. "It sounds great," she admitted. "But I think I'm a little too far along the path I've started on to change course now. We'll still keep in touch, okay?" she promised. "And when the campaign comes to town, I'll be there to cheer you on. And to vote."

"Okay," Donna agreed, her eyes growing suspiciously damp. "You're still going to let me proofread your thesis for you, right?"

"You'll be the first one I send it to," Steph promised. "So are we bunking in the car again tonight?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Donna admitted with a short laugh. "I hadn't actually planned that far ahead, which is sort of unlike me. But we've been pretty busy. There's a motel down in Nashua that's not too expensive, I stayed there a couple nights before. That way you can get a shower before you go."

Steph quirked an eyebrow at Donna. "Are you going to be homeless after I leave?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm resourceful, not homeless," Donna maintained staunchly. "I bunk in with the volunteers most nights, and there are couches here. They'll put me on salary, it's only a matter of time."

For a moment, Steph felt just the faintest twinge of sympathy for Donna's overprotective mother, but she pushed it aside. Donna didn't have the best taste in men, but she knew how to take care of herself. And somehow Steph suspected that Josh wasn't going to let anything too scary happen to Donna as long as he was anywhere nearby. "It's your back, kiddo," was all she said, grinning as she turned back to the filing.

From the corner of her eye, Steph watched Donna fingering the campaign badge hanging around her neck. "Nope," she told Steph. "It's my fresh start."


End file.
